A young man named Greg wrote us last year to say he had begun a non-profit organization in his small community.
He wrote:
I am responsible for raising money, and the way I’ve been creating great impact is with the Go-Giver mentality, helping others.
Working for a startup non-profit, I am not paid well, which is fine with me. I appreciate the story you’ve told as it spoke to my soul.
I wrote back:
Hi Greg. Thank you for your note, and congratulations on all the great work you are doing.
As a thought, when you say that working for a startup non-profit you are not paid well and that you are fine with that: that’s great for now, but I’d like to see you bring in more and more money as salary as the organization brings in more money.
Remember, Law #2 says that your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them. Being a Go-Giver does not mean being a martyr or taking a vow of poverty. (That is, of course, a choice you have the right to make, but it is not a part of the Go-Giver philosophy.)
You can do a great deal more good in the world and specifically for those you wish to help when you are living comfortably, rather than having to worry about where your next meal is coming from and how you’re going to make your next rent payment. Just a thought, as you seem like a truly great guy.
A month or so later, Greg replied:
Bob, your message hit a nerve. Thank you for the reminder. I agree, doing good does not mean earning less. I went to business school and felt guilty about the idea of making a lot of money doing something I loved.
I’ve been practicing, and I am starting to ask for more money when I speak—and am getting paid what I’m worth. Your words came at a time when I needed to hear them.
Yes, good work can be rewarded, and good things keep happening to me. Wow, I love The Go-Giver as it represents my life.
Cool. Very cool! Provide exceptional value, provide it to lots of people, and stay open to receiving. Great things will happen.
Good for you, Greg!
Awesome message Bob, thanks !
Thank you, Ben. Much appreciated!!
Bob-
A great post and in an odd fashion very poignant for me, thank you. The universe has only recently consipired to expose your talents to me and I’m thrilled. Heading over to Amazon now to buy your book! Thank you for the inspiration and have a great weekend.
Cheers,
Martin Cody
Thank YOU, Martin. I appreciate your kind words. And, your kind note, which I received today.
Scratch that Bob and I apologize, I now see the books are available right here!
Martin, it takes you right to amazon anyway, so either way is fine. Thank you!
I’ve caught myself offering to work for free or close to it a few times lately without even being asked! Thanks for this reminder. Even in challenging times, smart business owners will full price for full value.
Thanks a bunch!
Thank you, Geri. So glad you saw you were doing that. Yes, absolutely; the key is to give more in value than you take in payment, which means that the customer receives a lot more in value than what they paid in money, while you still make a very healthy profit. Both parties win, and win big. That’s one reason why the Free Market – when allowed to work – works so well; because both parties come out better off after the transaction than they were when they went into it.
Awesome! 🙂 Been there, “broke martyr,” bought the t-shirt and got a refund after Bob taught me about value! 🙂 Way to go Greg and THANK YOU MR. BURG!
Thank YOU, Amy. Been following your career and so very, very proud of you!!
What a delightful young man, and he has already learned to DO the things he loves!
As to his payment you are so right Bob, we need to be good financially so we have a solid foundation to do our good works from.
Reality is that it often takes time to build that solid financial foundation and many folks stop because they can not endure the discomfort while building.
I believe the pay you receive inside your heart and your mind while you struggle to build, is the greatest value you yourself earn.
The financial comes with your consistent effort so long as you believe in your worth and, you ask to be justly compensated.
Much love and many many blessings to you and to all those you serve Bob.
Thank you, Laura. I appreciate your always-kind, thoughtful and wisdom-filled comments. And yes, financial success does take time to build. As I wrote to him in my response, it wasn’t that I was concerned about him not making money at this time, it was that I wanted to make sure that his being okay with not making money now was not the same as his thinking that a *requirement* of his doing well for others was to be poor himself. That would be the ultimate mis-interpretation of a Go-Giver and would be very counter-productive to all concerned. Fortunately, he really *got it* and made a really positive shift in his thought process. Thank you again for sharing, my friend.
Bob,
Thanks for sharing the story. It’s so helpful to see the concept in action.
I like how you pointed out that it doesn’t help anyone if he suffers financially. And, we could add that in fact, it hurts the community and the economy overall if he doesn’t make enough money now so that he’ll have to be supported in his later years.
We have an obligation to do our best to be self-sufficient!
Doing my best 🙂
Beth
I love it, Beth! Awesome teaching and advice, my friend. Thank you for sharing!
Hello Bob,
This is so true, a lot of people have a limiting belief surrounding money believing it to be the root of evil 🙂 Consequently believing that to do good one has to be non profit 🙂
However, often the opposite is true because money still makes the world go round and when one is earning a good amount of money one can help in more ways.
So glad to read the happy ending to this story of a new beginning for this young man.
Bye bye
The English Sisters
Thank you, English Sisters. So very true. That limiting belief about money is what prosperity authority, Randy Gage calls a “meme” or “mind virus.” The worst part of it is that it is generally below one’s conscious awareness, thus the person it affects doesn’t know why they continue to sabotage their finances even though, on a conscious level, they’d like to earn more income. Fortunately, I believe that Greg now gets it, as do many other people who study the subject of abundance. Thank you for sharing, my friends.
Excellent article! Alan Weiss was on the closing panel for the National Speakers Association conference today, and he said we need to know our value then ask for what we’re worth because we hold a key to stop our client’s “pain” and improve their position!
http://www.nsaspeaker.org
Thank you, Colleen. I greatly appreciate you sharing with us! Excellent insight by Alan, who certainly knows from whence he speaks. And, even if it isn’t necessarily pain (of course, it is indeed pain in many cases; financial pain, physical pain, time pain, etc.), and that what the seller does can help their prospect, customer or client achieve something they want, need or desire, Alan’s suggestion still hold’s true. There’s an old economic maxim that says, “A person will exchange their money for that which they feel is of equal or greater value than the money they are trading for it.” And, the more value they perceive as incoming as opposed to the money outgoing, the greater the chances they will make that exchange. And, again, everyone wins.
You know Bob, receiving permission from someone you admire and respect can make a huge impact in their path. Really listening, or reading in this case, the thoughts of another individual reaching out, is another example of “Go-giver” mentality. We all need to remember that none of us received permission for everything we dreamed to do and though it is up to us to allow ourselves, sometimes that extra echo is support beyond measure. Nice one!
Angela, thank you, my friend. I take that as a huge compliment!!
Bob…I came across your message and I really appreciate it. It really helps crystalize what really is important and to keep focus on helping others.
Thks
Thank you, Michael. John and I always take it as a great compliment when someone takes that message from the book and/or these posts!
Before we can do any charity, we need to take care of ourselves. If we can’t take care of ourselves, how can we take care of charities. 🙂